The goal of the Cell &Molecular Biology (CMB) Core is to enhance and extend the quality and scope of individual research projects, by providing access to molecular technologies and measures that will yield insights into the molecular basis for hearing and hearing impairment. To achieve this goal the CMB Core has Specific Aims that fall into four areas: Development, Education, Collaboration and Service. In Development, the CMB will bring new methods and approaches to individual investigators and develop technology and data bases to facilitate use of the mouse model. In Education, the CMB will provide information on new advances in methodology to individual investigators, train staff of individual investigators in both routine and novel molecular methodologies, provide a bridge to centralized University of Michigan facilities for novel and advanced methodologies, and hold monthly meetings of Core Discussion Group with outside experts on specific topics to introduce new methods and approaches, share experiences, problems and successes and develop new productive collaborations. This last goal will be expanded In Collaborations, in which the CMB will bring new investigators to the study of hearing and balance research, bring in outside experts for new directions and approaches, and provide a format for discussions leading to new areas and directions of research. For Service, the CMB will provide state-of-the-art support for morphological and molecular assessments, provide assistance in integration of morphological and molecular assessments, provide normative data bases and provide assistance in experimental design and interpretation of results. The CMB Core will also work closely with the Physiology Core and the Delivery Core to coordinate physiological and morphological characterization of animals at both the molecular and systems level to enhance our understanding of hearing and to define molecular interventions that will prevent and treat hearing loss.